One of the most important castle towns of historic Mutsu Province, Aizu-Wakamatsu is now the principal city of the Aizu Region of modern Fukushima-ken. A sprawling place amidst the Aizu plain, it is most famous as the site of one of largest battles of the Boshin War at the end of the Edo Era. In the middle of the battle, 19 young members of the Byakkotai - the White Tiger Corps (a group of young Aizu samurai) - ritually disemboweled themselves at the top of Iimori-yama, having mistakenly concluded that the battle was already lost.

Nearby Kitakata is a flat, workaday town that has nevertheless gained attention as a tourist center for its many kura - earthen-walled and typically whitewashed storehouses. Arguably more famous is the city's distinct variety of ramen, cut thicker, flatter and curlier than usual, and cooked in a soy-flavored broth.